Vic: Dredge to begin in summer as cost blows out to $1 billion

AAP General News (Australia)
12-21-2007
Vic: Dredge to begin in summer as cost blows out to $1 billion

By Catherine Best

MELBOURNE, Dec 21 AAP - Dredging of Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay will begin in the
height of summer and taxpayers will pay for it with the cost of the project blowing out
to almost $1 billion.

The controversial project to deepen Melbourne's shipping channels will begin on February
1 and has been revised up from $763 million to $969 million, it was announced today.

The Victorian government will commit $150 million towards to the project and port users
will fund the remainder, with wharfage fees almost doubling to $67 per container.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett yesterday approved the project, which will
allow larger ships to enter Melbourne.

Foreign dredging vessel, the Queen of the Netherlands, will arrive late next month
to begin dredging 23 million cubic metres of rock, sand and toxic sediment from the bay.

The project is due to be completed in December 2009 and will have a 25-year lifespan.

But Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) head Stephen Bradford conceded the shipping
channel will not be deep enough to accommodate all vessels after that timeframe.

The project will allow ships with a draught of 14 metres to enter the bay in all tides
- up from a maximum of 12.1 metres.

Large ships will pay five cents per tonne of vessel capacity for the privilege.

"Currently 43 per cent of ships docking in Melbourne are under-loaded because of draught
constraints - that cost is borne by the Victorian community," Mr Bradford said.

"This is the most critical marine infrastructure project in Victoria and it is of national
significance."

Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas said the project was expected to create 2000 jobs
during the dredge and inject $2.2 billion into the state economy.

It would also facilitate freight growth from two million shipping containers a year
to seven million by 2035.

Opponents will return to the Federal Court on January 10 to try and block the dredge.

The Blue Wedges Coalition will argue for a new, independent assessment of the project,
which they say has changed dramatically since the original 2002 application to the federal
environment minister.

"We're confident that the Federal Court will overturn Mr Garrett's decision because
it's a bad decision," Blue Wedges spokeswoman Jenny Warfe said.

Mr Bradford said the environmental standards for the project were "the most comprehensive
... ever set in a dredging project anywhere in the world".

Environment Protection Authority (EPA) chairman Mick Bourke has been appointed independent
monitor of the project under planning conditions imposed by the state government.

The PoMC has also been slapped with a $100 million environmental bond, and more than
$500 million in environment protection initiatives.

Mr Pallas said the environmental controls were unprecedented and came on top of more
than two years' investigation and more than 40 technical studies.

AAP cmb/pmu/ht/mn

KEYWORD: CHANNEL NIGHTLEAD

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